any tips on doing ribs in a smoker? do i glaze them with BBQ sauce while they're in there, or am i supposed to leave them in the smoker for a while (at 200-225 or so), and then finish them off on higher heat and do the glazing then? is there any prep that has to be done before hand (put the rub on well in advance...marinate...etc)?

The big thing about smoking (and even grilling, for that matter) is variable management. Burn rate of the heat source, dry-bulb temp / wet-bulb temp, putting a tray of crushed ice in the smoker to regulate humidity and mitigate the barbeque 'stall', wrapping the product tightly in foil to prevent evaporative cooling..... it's a lot of work smoking a product all the way to doneness.

I much prefer pre-smoking for about 30 minutes with your dry rub applied, wrapping the ribs (tightly) in a foil pack with some garlic, herbs and olive oil, then finishing them in a low oven (the temp range you cite) for 3-4 hours until doneness is achieved. There isn't a hugely perceptible difference in flavor in meat smoked for 30 minutes and the same meat smoked for 3 hours, but you will have a significantly less prominent smoke ring (which is an important consideration to some people).

You can smoke after the meat has been cooked to doneness, but the process of cooking denatures the protein which in turn makes it much less receptive to accepting smoke flavor. This means you actually do have to have the product on the smoke for a much longer period of time to impart the same degree of deliciousness.

shmenguin wrote:any tips on doing ribs in a smoker? do i glaze them with BBQ sauce while they're in there, or am i supposed to leave them in the smoker for a while (at 200-225 or so), and then finish them off on higher heat and do the glazing then? is there any prep that has to be done before hand (put the rub on well in advance...marinate...etc)?

I always rub ribs; I’ve never tried to marinate them. They should be trimmed of excess fat, and pork ribs have a thin membrane called “silver skin” on the bottom that needs to be removed. Slide a butter knife under the membrane and then peel it off.

I tend to prefer my ribs (or other smoked meats) dry, and add sauce at the table as necessary. If you want to glaze, I’d only do it at the very end of cooking, as you don’t want to create any barrier for smoke infusing the meat. Heat can also make sugary barbecue sauces burn, and that’s no good for flavor. TV commercials for barbecue sauces like to show people slathering sauce on meat on the grill, but doing that in real life is a recipe for creating nasty burnt-ness.

I think I've mentioned these on LGP before, but I'll state my recommendation again for the smoking pellets made by BBQr’s Delight (http://bbqrsdelight.com). I bought a bag each of Apple, Black Walnut, Cherry, Hickory, Jack Daniel’s barrel wood¸ Mesquite, Mulberry, Oak, Orange, Pecan, Sassafras, and Sugar Maple (there’s no shipping charge if you buy a dozen bags). I’ve used Pecan and Jack Daniel’s pellets so far. I found that when used in a foil pouch like they recommend, I get a lot of nice, fragrant smoke that lasts for a good 20–30 minutes. The nutty pecan flavor in particular is quite noticeable on the finished product. These pellets are really convenient for quick grilling because unlike wood chips they don’t have to be soaked in advance.

To use them, the manufacturer recommends making a double-layer pouch of aluminum foil, adding 1/3 cup or 1.6 ounces of the pellets, sealing the pouch, poking a very small hole in the top (I use the tip of a meat thermometer to poke the hole), and then placing the pouch under the grate and over a lit burner for a gas grill or on the coals for a charcoal grill. One really needs to use the foil pouch; I’ve found that trying to use them in some of the various smoker boxes one can buy results in them lasting only a few minutes and then catching on fire. I think they really need to be deprived of any air flow to work properly. BBQr’s Delight does sell a cast-iron smoker pot on their online store, but unlike the other ones I've tried it doesn’t have any holes and relies solely on the gap between the lid and pot to let smoke out.

This stuff is amazing. Disappeared from stores around here in the past few months, but I've been getting it on Amazon. Used in some burgers this past weekend and it was delicious.

I was in the Asian grocery store on McKnight across from Pep Boys earlier today, and I think I recall seeing this brand of sauce. If not this brand, they definitely have a bunch of similar chile-garlic sauces. I was in there to buy Thai sweet chile sauce for some chicken I'm grilling, so I was looking at the chile-sauce section. For Sriracha lovers, they must have had at least half a dozen brands if not more.

Every time I go in there I try to buy something I've never heard of. This trip's random purchase was a bottle of Suka Pinakurat, which is a Filipino spicy vinegar made from coconut sap and birds-eye hot peppers. Google tells me this stuff is native to Iligan City and is used in a traditional dish of boiled boar meat and is also a popular condiment for lechon—roast suckling pig. That makes perfect sense to me because other than the unique taste of the coconut vinegar (it's hard to describe but it's easy to tell it's not wine or cider vinegar), this stuff could be an extra-spicy version of a North Carolina vinegar-based barbecue sauce. It's perfect for roast pork. I need to smoke a pork shoulder and use this stuff for the sauce.

flank steak is by far my favorite cut of meat. love it. Bought one last night, cooked it in a cast iron skillet as I don't have my grill anymore (will be getting one, but it was so rusted that I didn't want to move it with me). Was delicious with a side of blanched kale that was thrown into a pan that had mushrooms, onions, garlic and butter. Little salt and pepper, so simple yet so delicious.

Limited (2 cities so far), but this looks like a nice way to get your groceries without heading to a store. From what I have heard, you can schedule for the truck to stop and pickup from specialty markets or restaurants and deliver to you as well.

We are just outside the delivery area for now, but peeps like Tif would be in the sweet spot and a targeted shopper.

Thanks for sharing that. I see delivery trucks all over the place now (seriously, like 5 or 6 times a day) and keep meaning to check it out. Two of my favorite vendors are on the L.A. list: Monsieur Marcel (in the 3rd and Fairfax farmers market; used to be my go-to place for quality pantry goods when I lived six blocks from there) and The Cheese Shop of Beverly Hills. I'm sure they charge a heft delivery fee, but it might be worth it to save the time of actually going "over the hill" to these places in person.

Further to the discussion a few weeks ago, Mrs Tif and I were in San Francisco this past weekend and we had a great time eating our way around town.

First, I now believe I have some weird culinary curse that follows me around. We showed up in town to find that Mission Chinese was closed for the week, and then later learned that Sway Oyster Bar (a late possible addition to the itinerary) was also closed for summer vacay. This happened to us when we went to Seattle two years ago only to find that Salumi was shut down for the week. There is something about this curse that prevents me from calling restaurants ahead of time to check their hours, but it's really annoying.

Anyway, on to the adventure.

Tony's Pizza Napoletana -- Hands down, far and away the best pizza I've ever had. Period. I have a hard time accepting everything I've had in the past as 'pizza' now. The Margherita from their wood-fired brick oven was simply perfect; four ingredients, each given the room to sing. And they have a bone marrow appetizer on the menu. Bone marrow at a pizzeria!!

Roli Roti - First, the Ferry Bldg and the Saturday farmers market are simply brilliant. If you're in SF on a weekend, you owe it to yourself to check out this market. The artisanal vendors inside the Ferry Bldg itself are worth the trip, but paired with the farmers market and it's exceptional. And then pair that with a porchetta sandwich and roasted potatoes from Roli Roti and you have something I might be tempted to call heaven. No joke, that sandwich was among the best 4 or 5 things I've ever eaten in my life. I've had food at Michelin-starred restaurants that didn't approach that level of craft and flavor. I'm not a guy who likes to take pictures of my food when I'm out and about (but thankful that others do), but I had to get a shot of this thing:

Spoiler:

They take a whole pork loin and butterfly it open, then stuff it with sausage and fennel and herbs, then roll it up and tie it off. Then they wrap that with a pork belly (skin on) and hook the thing up to the rotisserie. As the fat renders, it drips down to flavor the potatoes as the cook on the flat top at the bottom. When finished the skin is like glass, and super crunchy. Such a flavor bomb, I can't even begin to do it justice.

Slanted Door -- Flyover. Skip. Immense disappointment. Highlight? The cocktails were tasty. Non-existent service (there was a 30-minute gap between appearances by our server; we think he was high when he reappeared) and mediocre food. Wouldn't have been worth it at 1/4 of the price.

Incanto -- Made up for Slanted Door in a big way. Excellent service and world-class food. We started with a charcuterie course that included a dish of Ibérico di bellota lardo with melon, and a plate of house-cured salumi. Coppa di testa (headcheese), mortadella, sopressata, mustard, roasted garlic...... Then it was on to the primi course; calamaretti nero (pasta rings with squid ink), and pork skin 'spaghetti'. The latter was made by braising the skin in wine and aromatics until fall-apart tender, then extruded through a pasta machine into noodles. It was topped with local porcinis and about a handful of summer truffles. Outstanding dish. The mains did no disappoint, either. Beef heart with sweetbreads, and braised pork shoulder with stone fruit salad and salsiccia (sausage). At some point between the primi and secondo I began to seriously question the wisdom of ordering a braised dish on the heels of all that other food, but it was delicious (if a skosh dry; no sauce or glaze). If pressed, I'd wager the meal clocked in at probably 5,000 calories, 95% of which was from animal protein and fat. So not exactly the healthiest fare, but I honestly don't really care.

tifosi77 wrote:Tony's Pizza Napoletana -- Hands down, far and away the best pizza I've ever had. Period. I have a hard time accepting everything I've had in the past as 'pizza' now. The Margherita from their wood-fired brick oven was simply perfect; four ingredients, each given the room to sing. And they have a bone marrow appetizer on the menu. Bone marrow at a pizzeria!!

That's the famous pizza trick guy's place isn't? I know his Margherita is supposed to be legendary.